


Two is company, but three's a crowd

by Lunatical, zappedbysnow



Category: Avengers Academy (Video Game), Avengers Assemble (Cartoon)
Genre: Bad Puns, Bucky Barnes's Metal Arm, Clint Barton is a drama queen, Crossover, Dimension Travel, Fluff, How Do I Tag, Humor, Multi, Portals, Science Bros, Steve is not impressed, Team as Family, Tony Stark's Gauntlet is a Prosthetic, everyone is happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-11-18 03:45:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11283090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunatical/pseuds/Lunatical, https://archiveofourown.org/users/zappedbysnow/pseuds/zappedbysnow
Summary: The Academy boys ventured into the time fog and stumbled into their multiverse counterparts. Will our heroes be able to return home?OR“Oh damn, where the fuck did we end up?”





	Two is company, but three's a crowd

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Two is company, but three's a crowd (art)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11283756) by [zappedbysnow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zappedbysnow/pseuds/zappedbysnow). 



Three hours. It took three goddamn hours just to clean up Hyperion’s mess, and that was without even _considering_ the five-hour long fight that had created the mess in the first place.

Steve couldn’t help but look around, taking stock of each one of his teammates: Widow was slumped on the pilot’s seat of the Quinjet, which was testament enough of how tired she was, because Natasha was rarely anything less than perfectly composed; Clint, who had no such qualms, was snoring peacefully next to her with his feet tucked under him on the chair, hugging his bow almost like a child snuggling with a teddy bear.

Even Thor looked more subdued than usual, sitting on the floor with Mjolnir by his side. Bruce, who’d de-hulked as soon as the battle ended, was cuddled up on one of the benches, with a blanket on his shoulders and a warm cup of tea between his hands, a courtesy of Sam, who was drinking from his own cup and browsing on his phone.

Steve himself was almost falling asleep while letting his gaze wander over each of his teammates, but he still couldn’t help the way his heart warmed up with happiness as soon as his eyes fell on Tony and Bucky; his boyfriends were cuddled up together not too far away from Bruce, bits and pieces of Tony’s armor laying abandoned on the floor next to their feet. The man in question was all but sitting in Bucky’s lap, his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder, while Bucky ran a hand up and down his back.

Steve was tempted to join them on the bench, but they were about to get home and he knew that getting up again after finally sitting down wouldn’t be worth the effort. Instead, he turned around and walked up behind Natasha, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing lightly.

“How are you holding up? Need me to switch seats with you?” He kept his voice down, not wanting to wake up his teammates.

She glanced up at him and smiled bit before turning back to the commands. “I’m good Cap, thanks. ETA is 5 minutes. You can start waking up those lazy asses if you want.”

“Hey, I heard that, you know?” Tony sounded like a sleepy, grumpy kitten, which to be honest, Steve found way cuter than he probably should, and he had to stop himself from outright cooing at his boyfriend.

Natasha didn’t answer, but Steve still caught the smirk on her face before he turned around and gently shook Clint’s shoulder. “Wake up, Hawkeye. We’re almost home.”

Clint startled and blinked up at him, a confused expression on his face. “Wha’? I was sleeping, why did you wake me up?”

“Sorry, Clint, but we’re almost home. You can go back to sleep once we reach the tower,” Steve explained, an amused smile on his face.

The only answer he got was a grunt of acknowledgement, so he simply shook his head and headed towards his two boyfriends, who were still cuddling on one of the benches.

Tony was glaring up at him while Bucky was trying and failing to hide his smile, eyes crinkling at the corners. Steve smiled softly at the two of them, sliding a hand into Tony’s curls and scratching slightly, struggling to hide his laughter when Tony melted at the contact, a soft sigh escaping from his lips.

He totally looked like a cat.

Bucky must have been thinking the same thing, judging by the way his shoulders were shaking in his efforts to stop his laughter.

Tony obviously noticed their struggles and weakly slapped Bucky’s chest. “Stop it,” he whined, “I know what you’re thinking, and for the last time, I don’t look like a cat when I’m tired. Assholes.”

Bucky let out an amused huff of air and kissed the top of Tony’s head. “Sorry, Dollface. We didn’t mean to offend you.”

Tony grumbled something too low to hear and nuzzled closer to the Soldier, hiding his face in his boyfriend’s neck. Bucky chuckled again and looked up at Steve, his expression serene and full of love. He raised his head, silently asking for a kiss, and Steve couldn’t help but oblige and lean down for a chaste peck on the lips.

Bucky hummed at the contact and closed his eyes, but didn’t try to deepen the kiss. They both leaned back after a second, and Steve felt his heart flutter as Bucky slowly opened his eyes, a soft smile on his face. He leaned back down for another kiss, but was stopped mid-motion by a hand weakly batting away his face.

“No, stop it, I’m trying to sleep here,” Tony whined, trying to push him away. “No kissing. Too tired. Sleep now, kiss later.”

“Aw, are you jealous, Kitten?” Bucky voice was clearly teasing, but it still got the desired effect when Tony let out an affronted gasp and sat up straighter on Bucky’s lap.

“I’m not jealous! I’m Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, _playboy_ , philanthropist; I can get all the kisses I want, thank you very much.”

“Oh, is that so?” Bucky was smirking, clearly enjoying himself. “Why don’t you show me then, Kitten?”

Exhaustion forgotten, Tony threw a leg over Bucky’s lap, straddling him, but before they could start making out like two horny teenagers, Clint shouted at them from the front of the jet. “No making out in common rooms! There are rules! Stop that!”

“Technically,” Tony shouted back, “we’re not in a common room!”

“Well, I’m here and I don’t want to see you, so fuck off!”

At that, both Tony and Bucky shared a look and started laughing, but decided to respect Clint’s wishes.

Still, they were the first ones to get off as the Quinjet landed, eager to finally be able to sleep and cuddle together, leaving an amused Steve to follow behind them.

\---

They reached their bedroom and headed straight for the bathroom. Steve could feel dirt, sweat and dust in places they definitely weren’t supposed to be, and he really couldn't wait to clean up. His boyfriends probably shared the same sentiment, judging by the mechanical way in which they all stripped down and started to wash themselves.

They showered together to save time, since Tony’s shower was ridiculously large. They often liked to --ehm-- _enjoy_ some time together in there, but after that fight they were all too exhausted to do anything more than take comfort from each other’s presence. Tony was the first to finish (coming out of battles mostly clean was one of the many perks of fighting inside a suit of armor), so he got out of the shower and started drying off, waiting for Steve and Bucky to finish as well.

Once they were all dried up, they put on some underwear, not bothering with pajamas; the two supersoldiers ran so hot they were basically two human radiators. Tony still threw on a ratty t-shirt, mostly to hide the arc reactor’s light, and plopped down on the bed, snuggling up to his boyfriends.

In less than 5 minutes, they were all out like a light.

Only to be woken up at 5am by a portal opening inside their bedroom.

Bucky was the first one to wake up, his Winter Soldier’s instincts jumping into action, and in less than a second, he was out of the bed and crouched on the ground, a knife and a gun in his hands. Steve and Tony reacted quickly as well, the Captain reaching for his shield propped on the bed’s feet and Tony summoning his gauntlets from God knows where.

For a couple of tense seconds, they just stood there, ready to strike, as a strange mist started to come out of the portal. It appeared to be just regular fog, and the Soldier lowly said that he couldn’t detect any smell indicating poison or any type of gas, so Steve decided not to worry about it unless it came too close to them. The mist looked like it was starting to get thicker, but as soon as Steve began to really worry the portal closed and the fog dissipated, revealing… themselves?

\---

The two triads stared at each other for a couple of embarrassing seconds, before the other, younger Tony spoke up. “Oh damn, where the fuck did we end up?”

“Language, Tony.”

“Bite me, Cap.”

Steve could only watch, confused, as the other version of him rolled his eyes before taking a step forward, almost covering the younger versions of his boyfriends and _ok, that was seriously weird_.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Bucky stand up and lower his weapons, and he heard the repulsors power down, leaving the room in semi-obscurity.

“JARVIS, lights” Tony said, and the AI readily complied, lighting up the room in a soft yellow, “Thank you, now would you scan them, please?”

After a second of silence, JARVIS replied, “Sir, the scans confirm that the three newcomers are, in fact, younger versions of you and your partners.”

As soon as he heard that, Steve relaxed minutely. He could trust JARVIS to tell them if something was wrong.

Steve bent down and deposited his shield against the bed before straightening up again and putting his hands on his hips. He was sure that the pose wasn’t as threatening as usual, with him standing in the middle of his bedroom in his boxers and bed hair, and Tony snorting behind him confirmed his suspicions, but he was definitely too tired to care.

“Ok, everybody. I want to hear an explanation, and I want it to be brief and straight to the point: who are you, where do you come from, why are you here, and what do you want from us?”

Other-Steve started to say something, the tension in his posture giving away his nervousness, but he was cut off by Other-Tony leering over his shoulder at Steve and Bucky

“Holy shit, you get even buffer and hotter as you age! Man,” he said, turning towards Tony with a smile, “you’re one lucky bastard! And that’s some _awesome_ facial hair you have there!”

His Tony smirked and winked at his counterpart. “Thank you. And the same goes for you, you know?”

Other-Tony seemed to preen like a peacock, as if another version of him finding his boyfriends hot was a great compliment.

“Guys. Please, can we tone down the flirting a little bit? And I still need to hear an explanation.”

“Sorry, Captain,” said his Tony, not sounding sorry at all. “Please continue.”

Steve sighed before turning once again to look at the three newcomers. They were all smiling, he noted, and while neither of the Buckys had said a word yet, they looked way more relaxed than before. Even Other-Steve had lost some of the rigidity in his shoulders, and Steve had to wonder for a second if breaking the tension was Tony’s plan all along. It seemed possible, but he didn’t have enough time to think about it since he had other things to take care of -- mainly, the three teenagers standing in his bedroom.

He raised an eyebrow expectantly. “So? I’m waiting.”

His counterpart quickly schooled his expression in what he recognized as his “Captain-America-reporting-from-duty” face on and nodded. “We’re three members of the Avengers Academy, a school for superheroes. We’ve arrived here through the time fog, a mysterious mist that surrounds the Academy. Apparently, the fog works as an inter-dimensional portal, I’m guessing. We didn’t know we would end up here, we just want to go back home. Will you help us?”

Steve sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face.  “We don’t have much of a choice, do we? JARVIS, assemble the Avengers.”

The AI was silent for a couple of seconds, before answering with a simple, “Done, Captain.”

The reply was soon followed by Hawkeye’s grumbly voice. “Cap, there better be a reason for assembling at fuck o’clock in the morning, or I swear to God, I’ll ask Natasha to murder you.”

“You won’t need to ask,” came the smooth voice of Widow over the intercom. “I’ll gladly do it myself.”

Steve scoffed and shook his head, smiling at their antics despite himself. “Thanks, guys. A portal has opened in our bedroom, and three younger versions of me, Bucky and Tony have appeared from said portal. They seem to come from another universe and would like our help getting home. We’re assembling in the common room in five minutes. Move it, soldiers!”

A couple of curses came through the intercom, but they were quickly drowned by Thor’s booming laughter followed by Bruce’s voice grumbling, “Of course this had to happen while I’m de-hulked. Of course. Why does the universe --no, wait, _universes--_ hate me?”

Steve sighed again, turning towards the closet to find something to wear. “Bucky, don’t shoot the kids unless they try something. And put some clothes on. Tony, I don’t know where the repulsors came from, but I want them gone. And put some pants on. As for you three kids,” he turned towards them, “follow us. I don’t want to see any weapons, I don’t want to hear any flirting, and don’t make me regret the trust I’m giving you.”

When they all nodded, he threw on a Stark Industries t-shirt and a pair of trousers and picked up his shield, heading for the door and leaving the others to follow.

\---

When they reached the common room, the entire team was present, in various states of awakeness. Clint was standing in the kitchen in nothing but his boxers and ever-present sunglasses, bow and arrows on his back and two cups of coffee in his hands. As soon as he spotted Tony, he walked over and wordlessly handed him one.

The genius grabbed it and downed half of it before letting out an indecent groan.

“You're welcome,” said Clint, sipping his own coffee.

“If I weren’t already in a relationship with those two,” Tony said, nodding towards Steve and Bucky, “I would definitely marry you. Your coffee gives me life.”

Clint nodded, pleased with himself. “Yeah, it usually does that. I’m the best at making coffee. And thanks, man. I appreciate your love.”

“Well, this isn’t weird at all,” Other-Tony was looking around, observing the Avengers gathered around the common room, before turning towards Clint again. “Our version of you is hotter.”

“Hey! That’s rude as fu-“

“Language!”

Clint snapped his mouth shut, glaring at Steve. “He just insulted me!”

Steve sighed and looked up, wishing for God to just come and take him now.

“You’re still a drama queen, though.” Other-Tony was grinning, clearly enjoying Clint’s outrage.

“Oh my gosh, you’re so young,” said Sam, who was looking way too excited about it, in Steve’s opinion. “We’re probably the same age! Oh man, this is the best thing ever!”

This time, it was Other-Steve turn to look delighted. “Sam! You’re… not that different, actually. How old are you?”

“I’m seventeen, Cap. You?”

“Technically, I’m seventy,” Other-Steve said, amused, “but I guess I don’t look a day over twenty, do I?”

“Smartass,” Other-Tony muttered, but with no real heat behind it.

“Guys, please, can we focus on the problem?”

Steve had a second to thank the heavens for Natasha before Other-Bucky cleared his throat, catching everybody’s attention. He looked at Natasha, ducking his head so that he could hide his face behind his long hair. “I-- I wrote a song for you. It’s called _A Buck for a Widow_. Do you want to hear it?”

There was a couple of seconds where everybody simply stared at him, not really believing what they had heard. What everyone could see, though, was the grimace on both Other-Steve and Other-Tony’s faces.

Natasha saw it as well, so she smiled and shook her head. “Thank you, but we really should discuss the situation right now. Maybe later today?”

Other-Bucky nodded, accepting her answer, and his boyfriends looked so relieved it was almost comical.

Steve decided to ignore it for the time being, and clapped his hands, catching everyone’s attention. “Well then, let’s get started.”

\---

“And that pretty much sums it up.”

The entire team plus their three guests were still in the common room, having just listened to Other-Steve’s explanation of how they had travelled into a different universe.

Steve slumped in his seat, scratching his chin. “I still don’t understand how the time fog works. It’s a portal through both time _and_ space, able to connect different universes… that’s a dangerous power.”

His counterpart sighed. “Yeah, that’s why we were trying to find out more about it.”

“But you got lost and ended up here,” Bruce concluded, cleaning his glasses on his shirt. “It’s a good thing I just got de-hulked, I guess. Thor, do you know anything about the fog?”

Thor shook his head gravely. “Nay, I am not as knowledgeable as my brother on this matter, I’m afraid. I have always relied more on force rather than magic. I don’t believe I can be of help, shield brothers.”

Tony patted him on the shoulder while walking over to Bruce. “Don’t sweat it, Goldilocks. I’m sure Brucie-bear and I will figure it out. I got my science-bro with me this time; it’s gonna be easy.”

Bruce smiled, shaking his head. “Don’t jinx it.”

The room was silent for a couple of seconds as everyone took some time to reflect on what they had just discovered and what to do next.

As usual, it was Tony who broke the silence, already vibrating with repressed energy. “Alright everyone, we better start to look into this! Bruce, mini-me, were going down to the lab to look at J’s energy scans of the fog.” Turning towards the others, he said, “You guys can do whatever you want, as long as you don’t destroy my tower. I’m looking at you, Thor.”

“Aye, it would be a shame to cause mayhem in the absence of my great friend! No offence, Dr. Banner.”

Bruce smiled and waved a hand in the air. “None taken, Thor.”

“Well,” said Clint, putting his empty coffee mug in the sink, “since my presence isn't needed here, I’ll be going back to sleep. Good luck with your sciencing.”

Sam snorted. “You just drank a whole cup of coffee, and you plan on going to bed?”

Clint simply looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

Sam laughed and shook his head. “Right, you and Tony are basically made of coffee, I don't even know why I asked. You know what? I'll go to sleep as well. I’m way too tired to help.”

They both left, waving at their teammates. Steve smiled at Natasha and Thor as they followed them, leaving the two triads plus Bruce in the common room.

Tony headed towards his counterpart, slinging an arm over his shoulder. “Come on, mini-me, let's go have some fun! You can be my new lab assistant, what do you think?”

As they started walking towards the elevator, Other-Tony scoffed, looking affronted. “Me? Maybe _you_ can be my new assistant," he said, startling a laugh out of his counterpart.

Steve almost choked on his own tongue to keep from laughing while Bruce simply sighed, trying and failing to look unamused as he was following the two Tonys in the elevator.

Once the three scientists had left, Steve turned back towards the other people in the room, feeling kind of awkward now that they were alone. How do you have a conversation with a younger version of yourself? You don’t, not unless you have something to talk about.

He pursed his lips, wondering about what they could do together, and looked at Bucky, silently asking for his opinion. Bucky cocked his head and gestured towards the shield, and Steve thought about it for a second before shrugging.

Turning towards the two teenagers, he asked, “How about a tour of the training room?”

The other Bucky nodded, looking a bit more relaxed than before, while Other-Steve grinned at him, immediately agreeing.

Well, Steve mused while waiting for the elevator, they were kind of the same person after all.

\---

“Man, your workshop is _great_!”

Other-Tony was bouncing around, looking at everything and poking at whatever caught his attention, while Tony explained how it worked.

Bruce decided to let them have a bit of fun and started preparing the necessary equipment, not really needing their help since JARVIS was helpful as always, providing him with all the energy readings of the portal. As he expected, the two Tonys soon joined him, unable to resist the sweet call of science.

If he had to be honest, Bruce was having a great time. He always liked working with Tony, and he enjoyed having another genius to bounce ideas back and forth with. Sure, they worked in different fields, and they had a different set of skills and knowledge, but they still worked together seamlessly. Even working with Sam, someone who had a much more similar attitude to his, was not the same as working with Tony; the Falcon was a genius as well, almost on par with Bruce even considering the age difference, but he lacked something that Bruce couldn’t really pinpoint and that made working together not as stimulating.

Watching as the younger Tony babbled about his theories, writing down equations almost too fast to follow, Bruce felt the same kind of excitement he did whenever his Tony dragged him into yet another crazy experiment. Only, you know, _doubled_ , since there were two Tonys.

Maybe getting de-hulked wasn't that bad after all.

\---

After a brief stop at the locker room to get changed, Steve led the newcomers into the training room, getting ready for another workout. To be honest, he would have preferred to catch another couple hours of sleep, but he certainly couldn't leave the two teenagers on their own around the tower. At least the serum had made sure that his body wasn't aching as much, and he had lived with less hours of sleep, after all.

“Alright, this is the training room,” he said, starting his explanation. “It was designed by Tony to allow us to train in a combat situation thanks to the training bots, which you'll meet in a second. Do you guys want to go first, second, or would you like the four of us to go together?”

Other-Steve and Other-Bucky stared at each other for a moment, and then Other-Steve nodded and said, “You guys can go first.”

Steve agreed and he and Bucky moved to the center of the room. “JARVIS, activate the training bots. Difficulty: easy. We don’t want an actual workout, just a bit of a warm up.”

“As you wish, Captain. Simulation starts in three, two, one…”

As soon as JARVIS finished his countdown, a panel in the wall opened and five training bots came out, four of them attacking on the ground while the last started hovering above them.

Steve blocked the first blast with his shield, rolling away and throwing it as he soon as he stood up. The shield hit one of the robots in the chest, shutting it down, and ricocheted off the wall and back to him.

Next to him, Bucky was engaging with another bot, using only a knife and his bare hands. He blocked an attack and stabbed the bot in the head, sending sparks everywhere and taking it to the ground, leaving them with two robots on the ground and the one flying above them.

Steve threw his shield again, hitting another bot with enough force to tear it in half and rolling away to dodge a repulsor blast from above. The shield bounced and hit the back of the last bot on the ground, making it lose its balance and allowing Bucky to take it down. Steve recovered his shield and threw it at the last robot, providing enough distraction for Bucky to transform his arm and shoot the flying bot, which fell down with a loud clank.

JARVIS ended the simulation and proceeded to send all the bots back to their repairing stations while Bucky and Steve walked back towards their counterparts.

They were both staring at Bucky, looking shocked. Steve could see that Bucky was beginning to tense up. When they both didn't say anything for a couple of seconds, Bucky frowned at them and hunched his shoulders. “What are you staring for?”

That seemed to startle them out of their shock, and Other-Steve was quick to explain. “Your arm just turned into a weapon! Bucky’s arm can't do that, we were just… surprised.”

“Oh,” Bucky considered them for a moment, before nodding and smiling. “Yeah, Hydra built it to be turned into a blaster, but Tony modified it a lot. Now it’s basically a multitool. It’s pretty damn cool, not gonna lie.”

Other-Bucky pursed his lips, apparently lost in thought. After a moment, he cleared his throat and started to sing. “ _Even if I change, I still remain the same. I’m a weapon, a caress and the best worst thing you’ll ever possess._ ”

The silence that followed was probably the most awkward of Steve’s life. Bucky was frozen on the spot, staring at his counterpart with his mouth hanging open, while Other-Steve was facepalming behind his boyfriend.

“Uh…” Bucky sounded just as confused as Steve felt. “I didn't know you could sing.”

His tone made it sound more like a question rather than an explanation, but Other-Bucky didn't seem to notice. “Yeah, I even started a new band. Do you like it?”

Bucky cocked his head to the side. “Not really my genre, but I’m sure some people dig it. It’s your turn now, by the way.”

As the two teenagers moved to the center of the room, Bucky turned towards Steve, gesturing wildly while mouthing “ _What the fuck?_ ”

Steve shrugged, and Bucky shook his head.

What the fuck indeed.

\---

When dinner rolled around, the Avengers and their three guests were all sprawled around the common room, with enough pizzas to feed a small army of men --or, you know, four supersoldiers and a god.

As usual, the team decided to have dinner on the couch instead of around the table, which was something the three teenagers weren't used to, judging by their confused expression.

Other-Tony was the first one to accept the implicit offer to join the team, plopping down on the couch next to Thor and Natasha. His boyfriends looked round, trying to find a free seat without much success: the couch was already full, with Sam sitting on one of the arms, the other triad had claimed the loveseat, and the armchair had been occupied by Bruce, who was sitting like a normal human being, and Clint, who was balancing on the backrest. Other-Steve decided to take the other arm of the couch, leaving Bucky to seat on the ground.

They ate in silence for a while, too awkward to talk much, but after burning through a good half of the food they all felt comfortable enough to make some small talk.

“So, did you guys find anything useful on the portal?” Steve asked, looking at Tony.

His boyfriend mumbled something around a bite of pizza, gesturing at Bruce to explain.

“We didn’t really find anything that useful,” Bruce said, putting another slice on his plate. “But we did analyze the energy readings, and we compared them to the ones from other portals. The closest one we could find was the one Tony created when the time stone got stuck in his reactor, but the data from that alone wasn't enough to figure out the inter-dimensional part of it.”

Sam hummed in understanding, and the group fell silent once again, each person lost in thought.

“How did training go? Did you guys have fun?” Tony asked after a while, looking at the three teenagers.

Other-Steve immediately sat up straighter, looking at his Tony with excitement. “Their Bucky has a multi-tool arm! It’s pretty neat!”

Other-Tony made a curious noise, looking over at Bucky, who simply raised his arm. Making sure that the younger Tony could see, he transformed his arm into a laser shooter, then to a repulsor blaster and then again to his arm.

Other-Tony looked like a kid in a candy store, leaning forward from his seat and completely abandoning his pizza on the table. “That’s so cool! Did I --I mean, did Tony make it?”

Bucky nodded picking up another slice. “He started upgrading it as soon as I joined the team, but since we’ve been together he has added so many things he basically rebuilt the whole arm.” He smirked, licking his lips and glancing at Tony. “He also made it a lot more… _fun_ than it used to be.”

Steve almost choked on a bite of pizza, while Tony snorted and covered it with a cough. Their counterparts were staring at them with wide eyes, looking somewhere between very interested and slightly horrified, while the other Avengers just groaned.

“Holy shit,” whispered the younger Tony, “that's so hot.” He leaned towards his older counterpart, a serious expression on his face. “I need the details.”

Tony grinned and took Bucky’s arm on his lap, demonstrating what he was explaining as he talked. “The first thing I added was a lube dispenser,” he said, pointing at the metal fingers and showing the mechanism for it.

Bucky just sat there, looking amused and letting his boyfriend maneuver his arm around. Steve was fighting to keep his blush down, staring at the ceiling and contemplating his life choices.

Other-Tony looked extremely interested. "Great idea. But like... do you just refill it? How much lube can it hold?"

Bucky snorted and shook his head. "Sweetheart, I need a lot of maintenance anyway, plus with the amount of sex we have, lube gets refilled every day.”

Tony kept explaining each upgrade in detail to his counterpart, who was raptly listening while his boyfriends were starting to look uncomfortably turned on.

Steve sighed and took pity on them. "Can we please avoid scaring the boys with tales of our sex life?"

“ _The boys?!_ ” Clint screamed. "What do you mean, _the boys_? I need brain bleach, _oh my god_. Nat! Nat did you see that?!” He was still screeching, gesturing wildly in the direction of the loveseat. He suddenly stopped and draped himself over the backrest, with his face dangling from the side. He groaned and covered his eyes. “I've touched that same arm with my own two hands, I cannot believe this. I need to take a shower. Memories of this day will haunt me for years to come. I've seen hell. My life has no longer a meaning."

Both Tonys, who had started laughing somewhere in the middle of Clint’s cry for help, almost fell down on the floor, holding their stomach with tears in their eyes. Sam and Thor weren't doing much better, and the other Avengers looked either amused or trying to hide it.

Even Clint was smiling, hiding behind his arm.

When they had all calmed down a bit, a comfortable silence fell over the group.

“I think I’m going to add more weapons to James’ arm,” Other-Tony mused, mostly talking to himself, “and keep some of the other upgrades for me.”

There was a beat of confused silence.

“For the suit?” Tony asked, sounding dubious.

“What? No, for my arm.” Other Tony said, wiggling his fingers of his gauntleted hand.

Another beat of silence as the two Tony’s stared at each other hands.

“Oh.”

“Oh.”

Other-Tony cleared his throat awkwardly. “So… funny story, but my gauntlet is actually a prosthetic.”

In the short silence that followed, Bucky noticed the tense set of the teen’s shoulders, recognizing from first-hand experience (ha, puns) the anxious expression on his face. He could also see the way Other-Steve and Other-Bucky glared at the Avengers, daring them to say a word.

He smiled at their antics. “Welcome to the club, buddy.”

Other-Tony huffed and smiled at him. “Thanks, Robocop.”

Bucky smirked. “Don’t worry. I lost my left arm in the war as well, but I’m _all right_ now.”

His smirk grew as everyone else groaned.

Other-Tony laughed. “That was a great pun, you know? You could even be my right-hand man.”

The groans this time were even louder. Other-Bucky frowned and looked at his arm. “I’m gonna call my next song _I’m All Right_. I can't believe I still haven't written a song for my arm.”

“Didn’t you write one after you failed to show off your arm by throwing things?” Other-Tony asked.

Other-Bucky frowned. “I forgot about that.”

Other-Steve patted his shoulder, a mischievous glint in his eyes. Smiling down at his boyfriend, he said “Oh, it’s _all right_ , Buck.”

This time, Clint screamed.

\---

“I don’t understand what we’re missing.”

Back inside the workshop, Bruce was analyzing the data they had compiled, trying to find the missing piece. Tony, Other-Tony and Sam had joined again in Tony’s workshop, and Steve, Other-Steve, Bucky and Other-Bucky were there as well, mostly to give moral support and to keep them company.

“We figured out the energy needed to reopen the portal and we can actually do it thanks to the previous data from the infinity stones.” Tony was re-explaining everything out loud, hoping it would help them solve the problem.

His counterpart cut in, following his line of thought and continuing it. “The only thing we’re missing is the reason why the portal opened _here_ and not somewhere else.”

The young scientist was fidgeting, walking nervously around the lab. “There’s nothing in the fog’s scans that indicates an intentional destination, but _that makes no sense_. It can’t be just… a random chance, or something!”

Steve noticed that his fidgeting was growing worse as he kept talking, until he was almost shaking with nerves and had to stop for a moment. As soon as he stopped walking, his boyfriends appeared next to him, hugging him from both sides.

Steve looked away, trying to give them some space, and glanced at his Tony; he was looking at the three teens with a frown, bottom lip caught between his teeth. He turned around when he felt Steve’s eyes on him and shrugged, looking a bit troubled. Steve could understand why; while Tony could be anxious from time to time, he was usually better at hiding it. And judging by his boyfriends’ expressions, it usually was the same for Other-Tony was as well.

“Okay,” Other-Tony said, squeezing his boyfriends’ arms once before stepping out of the embrace. “Sorry about that. Any hypotheses on the reason why we’re here and not somewhere else?”

Sam shrugged. “The only thing I can think of is what you said earlier: random chance. The data shows no intentionality.”

Bruce hummed, crossing his arms. “My guess is that the fog is sentient. Not in the biological sense, more like… like an AI. It works on an input-output equation. That still doesn't explain why the data we got doesn't match that of an AI like JARVIS’, for example. He turned towards Tony. “You’re the expert on artificial intelligence here. Any ideas?”

Tony didn’t answer immediately. His gaze was lost somewhere in the direction of the three dimension-travelers, with a calculating expression on his face. He blinked rapidly, focusing again, and turned towards his fellow scientists. “I was thinking… the three of them didn't just appear in this universe in a random location, the portal opened in our bedroom. So, if Bruce’s theory was correct...”

Tony trailed off, but the others seemed to understand what he meant.

Sam scratched his chin. “That’s… surprisingly plausible. But how? Biologically speaking, you're not the same.”

That seemed to make Tony pause, pursing his lips.

Bucky sighed. “Sorry to interrupt your thinking, but could someone explain what Tony figured out?”

Tony shot him a sheepish expression. “Sorry, didn’t mean to exclude you. I think the reason why they’re here is because, well, they're _us_. The portal latched onto the most similar thing it could find to the input --Steve, Tony and Bucky. But as Sam said, that doesn't really consider the fact that we're not the same, biologically, because of our age difference. They could have ended up anywhere with three other teenagers, for all we know.”

Bucky made a sound of understanding, and Tony smiled at him before turning towards the others. “So,” he asked, “solutions?”

Surprisingly, it was Steve who spoke up. “This morning --I had my shield with me. Vibranium isn't that common, and both my shield and Bucky’s arm are made out of vibranium. If you combine that with the arc reactor, a unique energy source…”

Bruce considered the option for a second before nodding. “That’s plausible. The reactor and the vibranium have extremely peculiar energy signatures. If the fog latched onto that…”

“...The portal might have connected to the closest combination of that.” Other-Tony concluded, looking relieved.

Sam quickly intervened. “Ok, so we know how they got here. Now the question is, how do we send them back? They brought the reactor, the arm and the shield with them.”

“JARVIS, now that we know what opened the portal, do you think you could re-establish the link?”

“I can try to run a simulation, Sir.”

Tony nodded. “Do it. And ask the other to come down.” He smiled at the three teenagers. “If everything goes well, we might be saying goodbye to our guests.”

Steve smiled and bumped Tony’s shoulder. “Don't jinx it.”

\---

\---

“Nat! Nat! The fog is acting up again!” Jan was yelling, flying towards her girlfriend.

“I can see that, Jan. Stay here; I'm going to call Professor Pym and Director Fury.”

Jan nodded, buzzing around nervously. Tony had been missing for an entire day, and she was going crazy with worry. At least he had Steve and Bucky with him. But to be completely honest, she didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

The time fog kept moving, and she glared at it. The stupid thing kept causing trouble at the academy, and now three of her friends were missing!

Just as she thought that, something started to emerge from the fog, making her squint to try to discern what it was.

As the thing came closer, she was able to see that it wasn't a single figure, but three.

_No way, could it be...?_

“Tony!” she shrilled, charging into him at full speed. She caught him off guard, making them both crash into Bucky's chest.

Fortunately for them, Bucky was strong enough not to fall down, his arms going around Tony’s waist to keep them upright.

“ _Oh my god, Tony,_ I was crazy worried! What happened? Are you okay? And you, Bucky? Steve? We were all so scared, Director Fury almost had a breakdown, it was terrifying! And-”

“Jan. Breathe.” Tony sounded amused, which helped to calm her down.

She opened her mouth to speak again but he shushed her, placing a hand over her mouth. She let him go and took a step back, fighting a smile when Bucky snuggled closer instead of letting Tony go.

Tony looked at her with a serious expression. “Jan, I need to go do a thing. A really important thing. Tell Fury that nothing much happened and that we’ll brief him when we're done.” He freed himself from Bucky’s hold and took his and Steve's hand, tugging them both towards the tower.

As he broke off into a run, he turned around and yelled “I owe you!” before he was carried away by his boyfriends.

She could only stand there in confusion. When Natasha joined her a minute later, she still hadn't moved. Director Fury was not impressed. “What the hell is going on?”

Jan looked at him and shrugged. “They came back, told me they had something to do and ran to the tower. I think they're having sex. That's… that’s the only explanation.”

The string of curses that came out of Fury's mouth made even Natasha raised a surprised eyebrow.

\---

That evening, after Jan decided to sneak into the tower to spy on the three lovebirds, the picture she took of Bucky sitting on Steve’s lap as Tony worked on his arm went viral on all her social medias.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> Artist: [@snowzapped](http://snowzapped.tumblr.com/)  
> Author: [@lunaticalwriter](http://lunaticalwriter.tumblr.com/)  
> Beta:

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> Artist: [@snowzapped](http://snowzapped.tumblr.com/)  
> Author: [@lunaticalwriter](http://lunaticalwriter.tumblr.com/)  
> Beta: [@folklejend](http://folklejend.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Kudos and commenta are appreciated!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Two is company, but three's a crowd (art)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11283756) by [zappedbysnow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zappedbysnow/pseuds/zappedbysnow)




End file.
